


Home, Wherever You Find Yourself

by ziparumpazoo



Series: Cottage AU [4]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Off-World, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-25
Updated: 2012-09-25
Packaged: 2017-11-15 01:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/521515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziparumpazoo/pseuds/ziparumpazoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An epilogue of sorts, and a new beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home, Wherever You Find Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Timestamp fill for [a_loquita](http://archiveofourown.org/users/a_loquita/pseuds/a_loquita), who wanted 'something from the Cottage AU, any time in the future, but no cows'.

The wind off the ocean finally seemed to have lost its bite, and to Jack it felt like spring had decided she was ready to shake off her mantel of frost and usher in the warmer nights fit for stargazing again. Which was a good thing, he mused as he rounded the cabin to the nearly depleted wood pile. He had really been hoping that they wouldn't need to drag the wagon through the knee-deep snow to cut more firewood, at least not until the days warmed up enough so that his hands didn't freeze to the buck-saw.

To the side of the small yard, just past the light spilling from the cottage windows, he saw Sam's familiar shape, her shoulders hunched against the chill. Between Harlow's boisterous storytelling, and keeping track of who had refreshments, and whose drinks were running low, Jack hadn't seen her slip out of their small, and currently overcrowded cottage, but Anka had, and had come asking for her.

Jack hesitated, but then figured she must have already heard his feet on the gravel yard because she didn't startle when he stopped just behind her.

"I just needed some fresh air," she explained without turning around. "It's getting a little warm in there."

"Getting?" Jack asked. "I think it 'got' pretty much about the same time that Jaro and his family arrived. If you could capture the heat generated by that many people packed into that little place, we wouldn't need another cord of firewood until summer."

"It is a bit crowded, isn't it?" she mused.

"Indeed," Jack agreed, and slipped an arm around her shoulder. Sam tucked herself in close to him and shivered. "Forgot your coat?" he asked and pulled her in front of him so he could wrap both arms around her.

"Mmmm," Sam hummed something non-committal. "This works."

They stood together quietly and watched the starlight shimmer back at them from the ocean below. As much as Jack would've liked to stay there, enjoying the moment, they did have a house full of guests, and they'd left the party in full swing. He shifted his weight slightly.

"I'm glad that everyone could make it," Sam said finally, breaking the silence.

Jack nodded. They'd arrived here three years to the day, and this little get together was only a small token of thanks to all the people who had taken them in as strangers, given them shelter, and welcomed them into their families and community. While there were still days when Jack ached for all the people they'd left behind on Earth, Sam and the cottage were what he truly thought of as home.

"They just came for the free food," he said. He felt her turn slightly to look up at him.

"Kind of a long trip just for some mashed potatoes and gravy," she said.

"Ah, but it was good gravy. Almost no lumps this time." He easily dodged the elbow that she aimed at his mid-section. "Seriously, I would cross solar systems just so you'd cook like that for me every day."

"I do cook like that for you all the time," she protested as he pressed his mouth against her temple. "Okay, a lot of the time. Occasionally. When I'm not swamped in the shop," she amended. "You have to admit, business has been surprisingly good lately."

"It has," he agreed. "You're getting quite the reputation around here."

"It's a good thing, right?"

Jack caught the note of uncertainty in the question. "Sure. Pays the bills. I could get used to being a kept man."

"Could you now?" she asked. "You'd let your wife slave all day in the repair shop so you could laze around in the sun?"

"Sure," he teased. "This was supposed to be my retirement, remember?"

"Oh really? We both know how well that works for you." Her voice held a hint of sarcasm.

Jack tightened his arms around her. Behind them, the sounds of the party were muted by the ocean below, broken only by laughter and music spilling from the door as it opened to admit the latest pair of callers. Their guests would start noticing that they were missing soon.

"Oh, I don't know." He planted a soft kiss on her ear. "Ive got much more interesting things to distract me this time around."

"Such as?" she prompted. Though her tone was playful, Jack thought there might still be something on her mind. She seemed to be avoiding going back inside.

He played along. "Well, this farming thing seems to be a good way to pass the time. I've always been an early riser," he said and felt her shake her head. He could imagine her rolling her eyes at him in the dark. "Folks here seem nice. The life is quiet. A guy could get used to this way of living."

Sam tilted her head so she could see him. "You're only realizing this now?"

"Nah, I think I was in love the moment I stepped through the gate." And he had been, though it hadn't been with this planet.

"So you could see yourself spending the next few years here, maybe?" she asked, still tentative. Jack felt his guts tighten. He'd thought she'd settled in and was content here with him. Had he missed something?

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again if it needs saying - Sam, I don't care if we live in a hut on a beach, or cave in the mountains... though I would prefer to have at least a few amenities. I'm happy wherever you're happy." He slipped his hand over hers and tapped a finger on the ring she wore when she wasn't working in the shop or the garden.

"Okay," she said with finality, but Jack felt like she was appeasing him.

"Sam," he said, "what's going on?"

She shrugged.

"Don't say 'nothing', because you wouldn't be out here if it was nothing," he said.

She twisted her hand in his, until hers was on top, and touched her own finger against his ring. "You're really happy here?" she asked with more than a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Really," he said. He didn't know how much more convincing he could be.

She took the hand she was holding and brought it to rest low on her stomach. "How do you feel about coming out of retirement to take up carpentry?" she asked. "Because I think this place might get a little more crowded."

"I think I could be convinced to give it a try." He kissed her again and felt the tension ease from her shoulders. "I was wondering when you were going to say something."

She turned around so quickly that he almost stumbled. "You knew?"

"I suspected," he answered. He'd actually figured it out a while ago, but since Sam hadn't said anything, he'd taken the 'wait and see' approach. It had been a long while since they'd last talked about settling in here, but those discussions had centered on not putting down stakes that they couldn't pull up at a moment's notice. She took a step back towards the cottage, but Jack caught her by the hand before she, and this conversation, could slip away.

She did stop, but her eyes remained firmly fixed on the ground beside his boot. "How?" Jack barely heard her above the sound of the ocean. "I wasn't even sure myself until last week."

Jack pulled her in towards him so they were face to face in the dark, shutting out the wind and the waves and the noise from the cottage, until all that was between them was the sound of their breathing. He understood being nervous, but it had been a long time since they'd been cut loose and sent on the run. Jack figured they deserved to finally put down those roots they'd been avoiding. This might have been unplanned, but it was not entirely unexpected, given the culture they'd made their own. It might even be the push they needed so they'd stop thinking of the stargate as a tool for invasion and defense, and start thinking of it as just another means of transportation, like the rest of the people in this galaxy did.

"Sam," he said in a low voice, "I have been covering your ass for how many years? I know how you walk when you're pissed that I ordered you and Daniel to pack away your toys and double-time it back to the gate. I know how you limp a bit on the left side when you're tired since the thing at the alpha site and you don't want to stop for a break because you don't like when you need to ask for help." Jack heard her suck in a breath, but didn't let her interrupt. "I know how you practically bounce when we'd get to a new planet and your scans ping something new and exciting. I have been watching you walk for a long, long time now. I can tell when something's different."

She leaned her forehead against his chest and Jack could feel her shoulders shake under his hands. "Hey," he said, feeling like the biggest ass. He hadn't meant to make her cry. He'd forgotten that this was completely new territory for her. He put a finger under her chin and tilted it so he could see her face, only to realize that she'd been laughing.

Sam quirked an eyebrow up at him. "So you're saying that I waddle now?"

"Not yet," he leaned in, "but you will." He touched his lips to hers. She reached up to slide a hand around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Behind them, the cottage door opened and Harlow bellowed, "There you two are, making out like the newly betrothed, while in here, the wine runs low."

He felt Sam smile against his mouth, and as much as he'd love to stay out here and kiss her under the stars, they did have company. "Just following your constant advice, Harlow," Jack shouted over his shoulder.

He turned back to Sam and took her hand again. "You will, and I'm going to love watching that too."

With that, he leaned down and kissed her quickly one more time, before pulling her back towards their cottage filled with family and friends.


End file.
